Renowned forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon (left) stands with members of the AFA after measuring Big Lonely Doug.

Big Lonely Doug Officially Measured and Confirmed as Canada’s 2nd Largest Douglas-fir Tree

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For Immediate Release

April 24, 2014

“Big Lonely Doug” Officially Measured and Confirmed as Canada’s 2nd Largest Douglas-fir Tree

Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island – “Big Lonely Doug”, a recently found old-growth Douglas-fir tree standing alone in a clearcut on southern Vancouver Island, has been officially measured to be the second largest Douglas-fir tree in Canada. Last week, renowned forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon, who manages the BC Big Tree Registry (see: https://bigtrees.forestry.ubc.ca/) run by the University of British Columbia and is also the co-author of the best-selling “Plants of Coastal British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon”, measured the goliath tree. The results are as follows:

Big Lonely Doug dimensions:

  • Height: 66 meters or 216 feet
  • Circumference: 11.91 meters or 39 feet
  • Diameter: 3.91 meters or 12.4 feet
  • Canopy Spread: 18.33 meters or 60.1 feet
  • Total Points (“AFA Points” – American Forestry Association, NOT Ancient Forest Alliance!): 701 AFA points.

This makes Big Lonely Doug the second largest Douglas-fir tree in British Columbia and Canada in terms of total size, based on its “points” (ie. a combination of circumference, height, and crown spread) and the second largest in circumference. Big Lonely Doug was first noticed by Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner TJ Watt several months ago as being an unusually large tree, and the organization returned several weeks ago to take preliminary measurements. Official measurements were taken last Friday.

The world’s largest Douglas-fir tree is the Red Creek Fir, located just 20 kilometers to the east of Big Lonely Doug in the San Juan River Valley, and is 13.28 meters (44 feet) in circumference, 4.3 meters (14 feet) in diameter, 73.8 meters (242 feet) tall, and has 784 AFA points.

Conservationists estimate that Big Lonely Doug may be 1000 years old, judging by nearby 2-meter-wide Douglas-fir stumps in the same clearcut with growth rings of 500 years. Big Lonely Doug grows in the Gordon River Valley near the coastal town of Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island, known as the “Tall Trees Capital” of Canada. It stands on Crown lands in Tree Farm Licence 46 in the traditional territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation band.

Conservationists are calling for provincial legislation to protect BC’s biggest trees, monumental groves, and endangered old-growth forests.

“We’re encouraging the province to keep moving forward with its promise to protect BC’s largest trees and monumental groves, and to also protect BC’s endangered old-growth ecosystems on a more comprehensive basis,” stated Ken Wu, AFA executive director. “The days of colossal trees like these are quickly coming to an end as the last unprotected lowland ancient forests in southern BC where giants like this grow are almost all gone.”

The BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations is currently working to follow up on a 2011 promise by then-Forest Minister Pat Bell to develop a new “legal tool” to protect the province’s biggest old-growth trees and grandest groves. Such a legal mechanism, if effective and if implemented to save not just individual trees but also the grandest groves, would be an important step forward in environmental protection and for enhancing the eco-tourism potential of the province. More comprehensive legislation would still be needed to protect the province’s old-growth ecosystems on a larger scale, to sustain biodiversity, clean water, and the climate, as the biggest trees and monumental groves are today a tiny fraction of the remaining old-growth forests which remain mainly on more marginal growing sites with smaller trees.

BC’s old-growth forests are important to sustain numerous species at risk that can’t live or flourish in second-growth stands; to mitigate climate change by storing over twice as much atmospheric carbon per hectare than the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with; as fundamental pillars for BC’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry; to support clean water and wild salmon; and for many First Nations cultures who use ancient cedar trees for canoes, totems, long-houses, and numerous other items.

“The vast majority of BC’s remaining old-growth forests are at higher elevations, on rocky sites, and in bogs where the trees are much smaller and in many cases have low to no commercial value. It’s the productive valley-bottom stands where trees like the Big Lonely Doug grow that are incredibly scarce and are of the highest conservation priority right now,” stated TJ Watt.

See previous media coverage on Big Lonely Doug at:

• Global TV https://globalnews.ca/news/1235236/canadas-second-largest-douglas-fir-tree-may-have-been-found-near-port-renfrew
• Times Colonist https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/vancouver-island-douglas-fir-may-be-canada-s-second-biggest-1.916676
• Vancouver Observer https://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/canadas-second-largest-douglas-fir-discovered
• CHEK TV https://www.cheknews.ca/?bckey=AQ~~,AAAA4mHNTzE~,ejlzBnGUUKY1gXVPwEwEepl35Y795rND&bclid=975107450001&bctid=3374339880001
• Huffington Post https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/03/26/big-lonely-doug-tree_n_5038519.html?1395881730
• MetroNews https://metronews.ca/news/victoria/981658/photos-giant-douglas-fir-tree-found-in-b-c-may-be-largest-in-world/

Earth Day Conservation Vision: Conservationists Propose Expanded Protection around World-Famous Cathedral Grove as Island Timberlands Poised to Log Mountainside Above Park

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Conservationists call on BC government to expand protection around Cathedral Grove, including Mount Horne, the scenic Cameron Lake, the Alberni Summit Highway, and the Cameron River Canyon, as Island Timberlands is poised to log Mount Horne above the world-famous old-growth forest.

Port Alberni, Vancouver Island – Conservationists are calling on the BC government to expand protection around MacMillan Provincial Park to fully encompass the forests above and adjacent to the world-famous Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is Canada’s most popular old-growth forest on Vancouver Island, visited by millions of tourists each year, and is found in the 301 hectare MacMillan Provincial Park. Island Timberlands has built a road through old-growth forests on Mt. Horne, the mountainside above Cathedral Grove, and could potentially commence logging soon of a new cutblock that could come as close as 300 meters away from the park boundary.

The preliminary conservation vision, that must still undergo consultation and refinement, would expand protection around the currently protected lands of 740 hectares (301 hectares in Macmillan Provincial Park and the adjoining 440 hectare Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park) by an additional 2900 hectares. See a map of the vision at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

The proposed expansion through a new provincial conservancy would include the old-growth forests, mature second-growth forests, and some recovering clearcuts around the parks, including:

– Cathedral Grove’s surrounding forests: These are the forests on the mountainsides above MacMillan Park and the main highway, including Mount Horne which is threatened by Island Timberlands. See images of the Mount Horne forest at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/cathedral-grove-canyon/

– Highway Scenic Buffer: Forests west of the existing park that currently buffer the main highway (Highway 4) up to the Port Alberni Summit (locally nick-named “The Hump”) to preserve the scenic viewshed of the drive from Cathedral Grove to Port Alberni (including the view for millions of tourists heading towards Tofino).

A year ago, local Port Alberni residents fought Island Timberlands from expanding a massive clearcut that would’ve marred the view along the highway, forcing the company to back off (see https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/island-timberlands-logging-of-alberni-summit-could-denude-the-hump-1.50473). Now it’s time to secure final protection for the highway’s forested buffer.

– Cathedral Grove Canyon: The spectacular old-growth forests and geological features of the area also known as the Cameron River Canyon, which should be a national treasure, were previously flagged for logging by Island Timberlands until a public outcry raised large-scale awareness. See photos at: https://16.52.162.165/protecting-old-growth-rainforests-to-the-economic-benefit-of-tourism-based-communities/4

– Cameron Lake: Cameron Lake is a highly scenic lake that millions of tourists drive alongside on Highway 4 before reaching Cathedral Grove. The Crown lands on the north side of the lake should be protected, as only a narrow strip along the south side of the lake is currently protected.

The lands would be a combination of unprotected Crown lands (about 1000 hectares) and private lands owned by Island Timberlands (about 1900 hectares) that would require funds from the BC government, other levels of government, and possibly private land trusts for their purchase.

Logging the mountainside above the park would cause increased erosion and siltation into the park, destroy vital old-growth forest wildlife habitat, and ruin scenery and recreational opportunities on the Mount Horne Trail. See a map of the cutblock at www.SaveCathedralGrove.com

“The Horne Mountain block above Cathedral Grove is an area that the BC government’s own scientists consider to be of high conservation value. They worked for years trying to have protections placed on it. Despite environmental concern and public interest, professional foresters of Island Timberlands seem to be moving ahead with their harvesting plans – roads have now been constructed through this intact old growth forest and logging could start soon. Unfortunately, it is hard to imagine that logging on Mt. Horne's steep slopes above Cathedral Grove will have no negative effect on this iconic forest's health and longevity,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance.

“Of all places where the BC government needs to show environmental leadership it’s in Canada’s most famous old-growth forest, Cathedral Grove,” stated Annette Tanner, Chairwoman of the Mid-Island Chapter of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. “The public shouldn’t bear the endless responsibility of safeguarding the park’s ecological integrity from the repeated onslaught of logging threats on adjacent mountainsides above Cathedral Grove. Will the BC government step forward and show leadership to safeguard the ecological integrity for this world-famous ancient forest and expand protection around it?”

“After the redwoods of California, Cathedral Grove is the best known old-growth forest on Earth. It should be a first rate priority for the BC government to stop any logging plans that threaten the park’s ecological integrity and ancient forest that millions of people visit,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “The BC government deregulated the environmental protections on this land in 2004 and failed to follow-through on an agreement that was supposed to protect the old-growth forests on those lands. They broke it, now they have a responsibility to fix it. The expansion of protected areas around Cathedral Grove, the scenic highway, Cameron Lake, and the Cathedral Grove Canyon will make this a world-class protected area, both ecologically and for tourism.”

“We need the BC government to re-establish a BC Park Acquisition Fund to purchase and protect endangered old-growth forests on private lands, starting with Cathedral Grove – or re-regulate them. In the meantime, Island Timberlands needs to back off if they have any environmental and community conscience,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

More Background Info

Cathedral Grove is within the 301 hectare MacMillan Provincial Park, an area smaller than Vancouver’s Stanley Park, located along the Cameron River at the base of Mount Horne where the planned logging would occur. In 1997 the postage-stamp-sized park saw roughly 10% of its largest trees blow down in a winter storm, exacerbated by clearcutting near the park’s edge.

The protected areas expansion is a preliminary vision, still in development, being proposed by the Ancient Forest Alliance and local conservationists.

The new roads and planned logging will have numerous detrimental effects, including: fragmenting the continuous forest cover and wildlife habitat on the slope above Cathedral Grove; destroying some of the last remaining 1% of BC’s old-growth Douglas-fir trees on BC's coast; destroying the wintering habitat of black-tailed deer in an area previously proposed for protection by BC government scientists to sustain them; likely increasing siltation into the Cameron River (which runs through Cathedral Grove) during the heavy winter rains as soil washes down from a new clearcut and logging road; and destroying part of the Mount Horne Loop Trail, a popular hiking and mushroom-picking trail that the cutblock overlaps.

• See the Times Colonist article (March, 2013) on the discovery of the company’s logging plans: https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/old-growth-near-cathedral-grove-set-for-imminent-logging-activists-1.90194

• See the CHEK TV clip (March 2013) about the original cutblock discovery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exaYAqSrzw

Until recently many of these threatened areas were regulated to the stronger standards found on public lands. However, in 2004, the BC Liberal government removed 88,000 hectares of Weyerhaeuser’s private forest lands, now owned by Island Timberlands, from their Tree Farm Licences, thereby not implementing the planned old-growth, scenic, wildlife, and endangered species habitat protections on those lands, and removing the existing riparian protections and restrictions on raw log exports. A follow-up agreement with the corporate landowners was supposed to see the protection of many of the deregulated old-growth forests (ie. proposed Ungulate Winter Ranges for elk and deer, and species-at-risk Wildlife Habitat Areas), but Island Timberlands and the BC Liberal government broke off negotiations several years ago and have failed to continue pursuing a solution. Alberni-Pacific Rim Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Scott Fraser has repeatedly worked to hold the BC government to account to remedy the situation by getting Island Timberlands to hold-off from logging these hotspots until a political solution can be implemented.

The flagged cutblock on Mount Horne by Island Timberlands is estimated to be about 40 hectares and lies on the southwest facing slope of the mountain on the ridge above the park and highway that millions of tourists visit annually. The logging would take place in an area formerly intended by BC government biologists to become an Ungulate Winter Range to protect the old-growth winter habitat of black-tailed deer – a designation that never came to fruition when the BC Liberal government deregulated the lands in 2004 by removing them from their Tree Farm Licence. Mt. Horne and the Cathedral Grove area is in the territorial boundaries of the Hupacasath and Qualicum peoples.

Island Timberlands is currently engaged in multiple logging incursions into other highly endangered old-growth forests besides Mount Horne. This includes recent logging and/or road-building in Kwakiutl First Nations territory near Port Hardy; on McLaughlin Ridge, Juniper Ridge, Labour Day Lake, and the Cameron Valley Firebreak in the Port Alberni area (see: https://16.52.162.165/news-item.php?ID=678); plans to log the Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River and the Day Road Forest near Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast; and plans to log old-growth forests near Basil Creek and the Green Valley on Cortes Island. See spectacular PHOTOS of most of these forests at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

Island Timberlands (IT) is the second largest private land owner in BC, owning 258,000 hectares of private land mainly on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and Haida Gwaii. Conservationists are calling on Island Timberlands to immediately back-off from its logging plans in old-growth and high conservation value forests until these lands can be protected either through purchase or through regulation.

Conservationists are also calling for a provincial plan to protect the province’s old-growth forests, to ensure sustainable second-growth forestry, and to end the export of raw, unprocessed logs to foreign mills. For private lands, conservationists are calling on the BC Liberal government to re-establish and bolster the former BC park acquisition fund (eliminated after the 2008 provincial budget). A dedicated provincial fund of $40 million per year (about 0.1% of the $40 billion annual provincial budget), raising $400 million over 10 years, would go a long way towards purchasing and protecting old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private lands across the province. The fund would be similar to the existing park acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC, such as the $3 million/year Land Acquisition Fund of the Capital Regional District around Greater Victoria, which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts.

BC’s old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures whose unceded lands these are. About 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged on BC’s southern coast, including over 90% of the valley-bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow, and 99% of the old-growth Douglas fir trees on BC's coast. See maps and stats at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

Tree Farm Licence 44

BC Liberal Government Revives Proposed “Forest Giveaway Scheme” for Major Logging Companies on Public Forest Lands

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For Immediate Release

April 2, 2014

BC Liberal Government Revives Proposed “Forest Giveaway Scheme” for Major Logging Companies on Public Forest Lands

Revived proposal would entrench the status quo of unsustainable overcutting by granting exclusive logging rights to major timber companies over vast areas of public forest lands by expanding Tree Farm Licences.

“Despite being killed by widespread public opposition just a year ago, the BC Liberals never stop trying to revive their ‘Corporate Timber Zombie’ that is always reaching out to grab our public forests. But this time they’re strengthening and boosting it with a massive injection of PR. No doubt this will make it harder to kill. But kill it we must, as this forest giveaway scheme will further entrench the unsustainable status quo of massive overcutting on public lands, ultimately resulting in the collapse of human communities and ecosystems,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “We’ve seen this familiar pattern of resource depletion, ecosystem collapse, and massive job loss played out time and time again throughout history, and forestry in BC is no exception – the process is well advanced on BC’s coast, and is now underway in BC’s Interior.”

Yesterday, the BC Liberal government revived their proposal to allow major logging companies to gain exclusive logging rights over vast areas of public forest lands through the expansion of Tree Farm Licences. See the BC government’s media release at: https://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/04/public-input-invited-on-expansion-of-area-based-tenures.html and their “Discussion Paper: Area-Based Forest Tenures”: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/foresttenures/files/2014/03/Forest_Tenure_Discuss_Paper.pdf

A massive public outcry a year ago resulted in the BC Liberal government rescinding the same proposal prior to the provincial election. See: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-backs-off-forest-land-volume-area-trade-plan-1.1386946

A Tree Farm Licence (TFL) is a defined geographic area that is tens or hundreds of thousands of hectares in size that confers exclusive logging rights to one logging company on public (Crown) land. TFL’s currently constitute a small fraction of BC, about 15% of the province’s cut. Most of the province’s forests are found in Timber Supply Areas (TSA’s) where no specific geographic area is granted to companies for exclusive logging rights – instead they are given a volume of wood (in cubic meters) through a Forest Licence (FL) that they are allowed to cut within each TSA.

While now gently billed as a “consultation process” regarding “area-based tenures” – which evokes images of Community Forests and family-run Woodlots – in reality the government’s proposal aims to allow companies that already have a guaranteed cut through replaceable, “volume-based licences” – that is, mainly Forest Licences held by the major logging companies – to convert them into Tree Farm Licences: “The Province is looking at options to convert some or a portion of some volume-based forest licences to new or expanded area-based tree farm licences (page 11, Discussion Paper: Area-Based Forest Tenures). In BC, five major companies have been allocated two-thirds of the allowable cut under replaceable Forest Licences: [Original article no longer available]

The scope of the new consultation is a rigged process that doesn’t ask “whether” or not Tree Farm Licences should be expanded, but instead asks “how” they should be implemented. The BC government’s Discussion Paper only lists “Potential Benefits” (page 9) but no “Potential Problems”. Its starting assumption is that companies with volume-based licences should and will be allowed to convert them into Tree Farm Licences in areas of the province. Their media release states:

“The scope of the public consultation will focus on how best to achieve government’s objectives within any conversion process on volume-based to area-based tenures, and specifically on the following:

-the social, economic and environmental benefits that should be sought from proponents through conversions, and

– the criteria for evaluating applications and the process for implementing conversions, including specific application requirements and target locations for conversion opportunities.”

In addition, despite the government’s press release that attempts to downplay the extent of the proposal as if it will be limited to pine-beetle affected regions (which is still an enormous part of the province), that “Conversions are not being considered on a province wide basis. They are one ‘tool in the toolbox’ that may help with mid-term timber supply issues in parts of the Interior that have been impacted by the mountain pine beetle,” in contrast their comprehensive Discussion Paper states the government’s wider ambitions: “Initially, these opportunities would be limited in number and would only be available in areas impacted by the mountain pine beetle. Over time, they could be offered in other parts of the province. (page 11, Discussion Paper: Area-Based Forest Tenures)

Perhaps the main crux of the drive for Tree Farm Licence expansion is to enhance the major logging companies’ claims to compensation and to undermine potential forest conservation measures (for fish and wildlife habitat, recreation, old-growth forests, endangered species, scenery, tourism, etc.) and First Nations treaties, which pose the main sources of “uncertainty” to the companies’ unfettered access to the remaining timber supply. The BC government’s Discussion Paper states:

“The major benefit of such a change is the increased certainty of timber supply that an area-based tenure would apply to the licence holder.” (page 10, Discussion Paper: Area-Based Forest Tenures )

and

“The licence holder is compensated if the allowable annual cut of the licence is reduced by more than 5 per cent as a result of Crown land deletions.” (page 8, Discussion Paper: Area-Based Forest Tenures)

“This is a dangerous proposal that will give increased rights to the major logging corporations on public lands at the expense of the sustainability of local communities and ecosystems. Greater corporate certainty by granting them exclusive logging rights over huge areas of public lands will make it harder to protect forests for wildlife, recreation, scenery, and tourism, and could make First Nations treaties more expensive, lengthy and difficult to resolve. It will entrench the massive, short-sighted overcutting taking place that has already driven the crisis in BC’s woods this far,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

The BC government propagates the myth that increased corporate control on public lands fosters better stewardship and greater sustainability in their Discussion Paper: “With area-based forest tenures, it is in the best interests of the licence holder to ensure the long-term sustainability of the area to secure future harvests.” (page 8, Discussion Paper: Area-Based Forest Tenures). In reality, BC’s Tree Farm Licences are bought and sold frequently by highly mobile companies that themselves frequently change ownership – these major companies are not tied to the land like communities and living creatures are. Some of the province’s most notorious, internationally famous examples of massive clearcutting, overcutting, landslides, destruction of salmon streams, annihilation of old-growth forests, locked gates, and ruined scenery and recreational opportunities are in the province’s Tree Farm Licences.

See an opinion piece by former BC Forest Service forester Anthony Britneff regarding many of these issues at: https://www.vancouversun.com/news/Tree+licence+rollover+public+benefit/8059516/story.html#ixzz2MvKFwm3s

In the Globe and Mail, it was reported recently that two of the BC Interior’s major companies, Canfor and West Fraser, recently overcut almost a million cubic meters of live green timber where they were supposed to be only taking beetle-killed wood. Incredibly, the companies were let off the hook by Forest Minister Steve Thomson without penalties:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/timber-companies-cant-see-the-consequences-for-the-trees/article17732435/

“Instead of penalizing companies that are overcutting our forests, this government is now looking to potentially reward them by further entrenching their unfettered access to vast tracts of public forest lands through new Tree Farm Licences,” stated Wu. “This is the BC Liberal government’s attempt to facilitate the last great timber grab by the major companies to log until the end of the resource – at the expense of communities and ecosystems.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Tree Farm Licence 44, Klanawa Valley, Vancouver Island, November 2013, south of Bamfield and Port Alberni. Large-scale clearcut logging in Tree Farm Licences has depleted and fragmented the once vast old-growth forests of Vancouver Island, causing the collapse of forestry employment in once-wealthy resource towns like Port Alberni and of whole ecosystems. The BC Liberal government stated yesterday that the creation of new Tree Farm Licences across BC will benefit the environment because “it is in the best interests of the licence holder to ensure the long-term sustainability of the area.”

Canada’s Most Significant Big Tree Find in Decades!

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Newly-measured “Big Lonely Doug” is a gargantuan, old-growth Douglas-fir tree now standing alone in a recent logging clearcut on southern Vancouver Island.  Conservationists call for comprehensive provincial legislation to protect BC’s biggest trees, monumental groves, and endangered old-growth forests on the International Day of Forests today.

Port Renfrew – Conservationists with the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) have found and measured what appears to be Canada’s second largest recorded Douglas-fir tree, nick-named “Big Lonely Doug.” Preliminary measurements of the tree taken yesterday found it to be about 12 meters (39 feet) in circumference or 4 meters (13 feet) in diameter, and 69 meters (226 feet) tall. Ministry of Forests staff will visit the site and take official measurements of the tree in early April. Big Lonely Doug is estimated to be about 1000 years old, judging by nearby 8-foot-wide Douglas-fir stumps in the same clearcut with growth rings of 500-600 years.

“This may be the most significant big tree discovery in Canada in decades! This is a tree with a trunk as wide as a living room and that stands taller than downtown skyscrapers,” stated TJ Watt, AFA photographer and campaigner, who first noticed the exceptional tree several months ago before returning to measure it with AFA co-founder Ken Wu yesterday. “Big Lonely Doug’s total size comes in just behind the current champion Douglas-fir, the Red Creek Fir, the world’s largest, which grows just one valley over.”

“The fact that all of the surrounding old-growth trees have been clearcut around such a globally exceptional tree, putting it at risk of being damaged or blown down by wind storms, underscores the urgency for new provincial laws to protect BC’s largest trees, monumental groves, and endangered old-growth ecosystems,” stated Ken Wu, AFA executive director. “The days of colossal trees like these are quickly coming to an end as the timber industry cherry-picks the last unprotected, valley-bottom, lower elevation ancient stands in southern BC where giants like this grow.”

Big Lonely Doug grows in the Gordon River Valley near the coastal town of Port Renfrew on southern Vancouver Island, known as the “Tall Trees Capital” of Canada. It stands on Crown lands in Tree Farm Licence 46 held by the logging company Teal-Jones, in the unceded traditional territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation band.

Big Lonely Doug stands alone among dozens of giant stumps – some 3 meters (10 feet) wide – of old-growth western redcedars, Douglas-firs, and western hemlocks, in a roughly 20 hectare clearcut that was logged in 2012. Its largest branch was recently torn off in a fierce wind/snow storm a few weeks ago, with a 50-centimeter wide base (the size of most second-growth trees) and still fresh needles lying on the ground adjacent to the tree.

The world’s largest Douglas-fir tree is the Red Creek Fir, located just 20 kilometres to the east of Big Lonely Doug in the San Juan River Valley. The Red Creek Fir has been measured to be 13.28 meters (44 feet) in circumference or 4.3 meters (14 feet) in diameter, and 73.8 meters (242 feet) tall.

The University of British Columbia runs a “BC Big Tree Registry,” which lists the 10 largest trees of each species based on circumference, height, and crown spread. See: https://bigtrees.forestry.ubc.ca/ Judging by the registry of the top 10 largest recorded Douglas-fir trees in BC, Big Lonely Doug has the 2nd-largest timber volume (ie. overall size), the 2nd largest circumference/diameter, and is the 7th tallest for its kind in BC.

Big Lonely Doug was likely left behind as a seed tree or through a logging practice known as “variable retention harvesting”, where companies claim they are “not clearcutting” the forest because they “retain” varying amounts of trees (in this case, two trees, including Big Lonely Doug) in each cutblock. The tree might have also been used as a cable anchor to yard other trees for the logging operation across the clearcut, judging by the long horizontal lines scarred into its bark.

The stand of ancient trees in which Big Lonely Doug grew was part of a 1000 hectare tract of nationally significant, largely intact old-growth forest on Edinburgh Mountain, home to species at risk, including the red-listed or endangered Queen Charlotte Goshawk. While some of the area has been reserved as a core Wildlife Habitat Area for the goshawk and as an Old-Growth Management Area, about 60% of the forests there – including the finest, valley-bottom stands with the largest trees, such as the stand where Big Lonely Doug once grew in – are open to clearcut logging. This area was nicknamed the “Christy Clark Grove” in 2012 after BC’s premier as a strategy to put her on the spot and in the spotlight to have to take responsibility for the fate of this spectacular ancient forest. So far, the premier has failed to ensure the area’s full protection. See photos of this nationally significant but threatened forest at: https://16.52.162.165/protecting-old-growth-rainforests-to-the-economic-benefit-of-tourism-based-communities/6

Government data from 2012 show that about 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast (Vancouver Island and Southwest Mainland) have been logged, including over 91% of the highest productivity, valley bottom ancient stands where the largest trees grow. 99% of the old-growth Douglas-fir trees on BC’s coast have also been logged. See recent “before and after” maps and stats at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

The BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations is currently working on following up on a 2011 promise by then-Forests Minister Pat Bell to develop a new “legal tool” to protect the province’s biggest old-growth trees and grandest groves. Such a legal mechanism, if effective and if implemented, would be a greatly welcome step towards protecting BC’s finest stands. More comprehensive legislation would still be needed to protect the province’s old-growth ecosystems on a larger scale, to sustain biodiversity, clean water, and the climate, as the biggest trees and monumental groves are today a very small fraction of the remaining old-growth forests.

BC’s old-growth forests are important to sustain numerous species at risk that can’t live or flourish in second-growth stands; to mitigate climate change by storing two to three times more atmospheric carbon than the ensuing second-growth tree plantations that they are being replaced with; as fundamental pillars for BC’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry; to support clean water and wild salmon; and for many First Nations cultures who use ancient cedar trees for canoes, totems, long-houses, and numerous other items.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the BC government to protect our endangered old-growth forests, ensure the development of a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry (second-growth forest now constitute the vast majority of productive forest lands in BC), and to end the vast export of raw, unprocessed logs to foreign mills.

“The vast majority of BC’s remaining old-growth forests are at higher elevations, on rocky sites, and in bogs where the trees are much smaller and in many cases have low to no commercial value. It’s the valley-bottom, low elevation stands where trees like the Big Lonely Doug grow that are incredibly scarce now. 99% of the old-growth Douglas-fir trees on BC’s coast have already been logged. It’s time for the BC government to stop being more enthusiastic about big stumps than big trees, and for them to enact forest policies that protect our last endangered ancient forest ecosystems,” stated TJ Watt.

Ancient Forest Alliance

Cathedral Grove, Canada’s Most Famous Old-Growth Forest, Under Threat as Island Timberlands Moves to Log Adjacent Old-Growth Mountainside

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Port Alberni, Vancouver Island – Cathedral Grove, Canada’s most famous old-growth forest, is under threat as one of the province’s largest logging companies, Island Timberlands, began falling a new logging road right-of-way last week towards a stand of old-growth Douglas-fir trees on the mountainside above Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is in the 300 hectare MacMillan Provincial Park, an area smaller than Vancouver’s Stanley Park, located along the Cameron River at the base of Mount Horne where the planned logging would occur.

Last week conservationists with the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance came across the new road construction activities. Fallers had cleared several hundred metres of a new logging road through a second-growth forest, heading towards a stand of old-growth Douglas firs where the planned logging will take place on Mount Horne. Earlier in March, survey tape marked “Falling Boundary” and “Road Location” was found in the planned cutblock that comes as close as 300 meters from the park boundary. An aerial overflight by Ancient Forest Alliance activists this past Tuesday confirmed the existence of new road construction activities headed towards the grove. See PHOTOS and a MAP of the flagged logging cutblock at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/cathedral-grove-canyon/

The planned logging will have numerous detrimental effects, including: fragmenting the continuous forest cover and wildlife habitat on the slope above Cathedral Grove; destroying some of the last remaining 1% of BC’s old-growth coastal Douglas-fir trees; destroying the wintering habitat of black-tailed deer in an area previously planned to sustain them; increasing siltation of the Cameron River (which runs through Cathedral Grove) during the heavy winter rains as soil washes down from the new clearcut and logging road; and destroying part of the Mount Horne Loop Trail, a popular hiking and mushroom-picking trail that the cutblock overlaps – Island Timberlands has now closed access to the trail.

See the Times Colonist article on the original cutblock discovery, from March: https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/old-growth-near-cathedral-grove-set-for-imminent-logging-activists-1.90194
See the CHEK TV clip from the original cutblock discovery, from March: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exaYAqSrzw

The flagged cutblock by Island Timberlands is estimated to be about 40 hectares and lies on the southwest facing slope of Mt. Horne on the ridge above the park and highway that millions of tourists visit annually. The logging would take place in an area formerly intended as an Ungulate Winter Range to protect the old-growth winter habitat of black-tailed deer – a plan that was not followed through when the BC Liberal government deregulated the lands in 2004 by removing them from their Tree Farm Licence.

Island Timberlands’ resumption of logging activities adjacent to Cathedral Grove appears to perfectly coincide timing-wise – either by sheer coincidence or by callous intention – with last week’s solidarity rally in Cathedral Grove involving half a dozen community conservation groups. The increased cooperation between diverse conservation groups has been prompted by heightened concerns about Island Timberlands’ widespread escalation of old-growth logging in many areas around Port Alberni recently. See the media release about last week’s rally at: https://16.52.162.165/news-item.php?ID=705

Island Timberlands is currently engaged in multiple logging incursions into other highly endangered old-growth forests besides Mount Horne. This includes recent logging and/or road-building at McLaughlin Ridge, Juniper Ridge, Labour Day Lake, and the Cameron Valley Firebreak in the Port Alberni area (see: https://16.52.162.165/news-item.php?ID=678); plans to log the Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River and the Day Road Forest near Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast; and plans to log old-growth forests at Basil Creek and the Green Valley on Cortes Island. See spectacular PHOTOS of most of these forests at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/

Until recently much of these lands under threat were regulated to the stronger standards found on public lands. However, in 2004, the BC Liberal government removed 88,000 hectares of Weyerhaeuser’s private forest lands, now owned by Island Timberlands, from their Tree Farm Licences, thereby removing the planned old-growth, scenic, wildlife, and endangered species habitat protections, as well as the riparian protections and the restrictions on raw log exports, on those lands. Alberni-Pacific Rim Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Scott Fraser has repeatedly worked to hold the BC government to account to remedy the situation by getting Island Timberlands to hold-off from logging these hotspots until a political solution can be implemented.

Island Timberlands (IT) is the second largest private land owner in BC, owning 258,000 hectares of private land mainly on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and Haida Gwaii. Conservationists are calling on Island Timberlands to immediately back-off from its logging plans in old-growth and high conservation value forests until these lands can be protected either through purchase or through regulation.

Conservationists are also calling for a provincial plan to protect the province’s old-growth forests, to ensure sustainable second-growth forestry, and to end the export of raw, unprocessed logs to foreign mills. For private lands, conservationists are calling on the BC Liberal government to re-establish and bolster the former BC park acquisition fund (eliminated after the 2008 provincial budget). A dedicated provincial fund of $40 million per year (about 0.1% of the $40 billion annual provincial budget), raising $400 million over 10 years, would go a long way towards purchasing and protecting old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private lands across the province. The fund would be similar to the existing park acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC, such as the $3 million/year Land Acquisition Fund of the Capital Regional District around Greater Victoria, which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts.

BC’s old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures whose unceded lands these are. About 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have already been logged on BC’s southern coast, including over 90% of the valley-bottom ancient forests where the largest trees grow, and 99% of the old-growth coastal Douglas fir trees. See maps and stats at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

QUOTES:

“On October 19, MLA Scott Fraser and myself met with Island Timberlands’ CEO Darshan Sihota, and asked him if he was intending to save any old-growth Douglas-fir forests – his reply was that it was his legal right to log it ALL. So despite the BC government’s scientists formerly intending these vital wildlife habitats for protection when they were still within the Tree Farm Licence, Island Timberlands sees nothing wrong with harvesting the old growth forests across all their lands. This even includes the mountainside above Cathedral Grove, Canada’s most famous old-growth forest,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance.

“Cathedral Grove is BC’s iconic old-growth forest that people around the world love – it’s like the redwoods of Canada. The fact that a company can just move to log the mountainside above Canada’s most famous old-growth forest – assisted by the BC government’s previous deregulation of those lands and their current failure to take responsibility – underscores the brutal collusion between the BC Liberal government and the largest companies to liquidate our ancient forest heritage,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “Island Timberlands needs to back off from Cathedral Grove and other endangered old-growth forests, while the BC Liberal government must take responsibility for allowing this destruction to happen. They broke it, now they have to fix it, either by purchasing or re-regulating these lands.”

“This is not about a company just wanting the right to log its own private lands unfettered, as the government and industry PR-spin suggests. These corporate private lands were previously regulated to public land standards for over half a century in exchange for the BC government’s granting of free Crown land logging rights to the companies back then – what has happened is that the regulations on private lands were removed recently, while the companies were still allowed to keep their Crown land logging rights,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance photographer and campaigner.

“Cathedral Grove is the mascot of old-growth forests in Canada. If we can’t ensure its ecological integrity because of the BC government’s inaction – or complicity – it really gives a black eye to BC’s environmental reputation in the international community,” stated Annette Tanner, chair of the Mid-Island Wilderness Committee, who has led the fight for the ecological integrity of Cathedral Grove for over a decade.

Ancient Forest Alliance

Conflict Escalates with Island Timberlands as Conservation Groups Rally in Cathedral Grove in Solidarity

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October 22, 2013
For Immediate Release

Conservation Groups Rally in Solidarity in Cathedral Grove against Island Timberlands’ Coastal Old-Growth Logging

Island Timberlands’ recent expansion of logging operations in multiple endangered old-growth forests on Vancouver Island has prompted diverse community conservation groups to call on the company to immediately back-off and for the BC Liberal government to be responsible and protect these lands.

Diverse community conservation groups rallied together in Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island today calling on Island Timberlands to immediately back away from its ongoing and planned logging of old-growth and high conservation value forests on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and Cortes Island, and for the BC Liberal government to be responsible and protect these lands.

Almost 60 protesters rallied in the parking lot of Cathedral Grove near Port Alberni, unfurling banners and leafletting tourists in the Grove. The rally included representatives and supporters from half a dozen local conservation groups, including the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance, Save the Day based in Roberts Creek, Wildstands Alliance based on Cortes Island, Friends of Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River, Wilderness Committee Mid-Island Chapter based in Qualicum Beach, and Ancient Forest Alliance based in Victoria.

Island Timberlands is currently engaged in multiple logging incursions into highly endangered old-growth forests. This includes recent logging and/or road-building at McLaughlin Ridge, Juniper Ridge, Labour Day Lake, and the Cameron Valley Firebreak in the Port Alberni area (see: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=678); flagging Mount Horne, the mountainside above Cathedral Grove, for potential logging (see: www.timescolonist.com/news/local/old-growth-near-cathedral-grove-set-for-imminent-logging-activists-1.90194); plans to log the Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River and the Day Road Forest near Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast; and plans to log old-growth forests at Basil Creek and the Green Valley on Cortes Island. See spectacular PHOTOS of most of these forests at: www.ancientforestalliance.org/galleries.php

Extremely rare groves of old-growth Coastal Douglas-firs, of which only 1% remain, constitute much of these contentious forest lands. Most such stands in the Port Alberni area were previously intended to become Ungulate Wintering Ranges for Roosevelt elk and deer, or Wildlife Habitat Areas for endangered species like the Queen Charlotte Goshawk – until the BC Liberal government deregulated these lands in 2004 by removing them from their Tree Farm Licence. Conservationists believe that there may be less than 900 hectares left of these forests that were formerly intended for protection in the Port Alberni area – less than half of what stood until just a few years ago (2400 hectares).

Conservationists are calling on Island Timberlands to immediately back-off from its logging plans in old-growth and high conservation value forests, while calling on the BC Liberal government to re-establish and bolster the former BC park acquisition fund (eliminated after the 2008 provincial budget). A dedicated provincial fund of $40 million per year, raising $400 million over 10 years, would go a long way towards purchasing and protecting old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private lands across the province. The fund would be similar to the existing park acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC, such as the $3 million/year Land Acquisition Fund of the Capital Regional District around Greater Victoria, which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts.

Island Timberlands (IT) is the second largest private land owner in BC, owning 258,000 hectares of private mainly on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and Haida Gwaii.

Old-growth forests are vital to support endangered species, tourism, clean water, wild salmon, climate stability, and many First Nations cultures whose unceded territories these are.

QUOTES:

“‘No Community Stands Alone’ is about all of our groups dealing with Island Timberlands’ ongoing and planned logging of endangered old-growth forests,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Port Alberni Watershed-Forest Alliance. “At a recent meeting we asked Island Timberlands ‘will Island Timberlands save any old growth forest?’ and their reply was that it is their private land and they intend to log it. But, the government should also take responsibility for allowing this to happen. It was their legislation in 2004 that cancelled any existing and planned protections.  The government has an obligation to protect these lands for generations to come.”

“This is not about a company just wanting the right to log its own private lands unfettered, as the government and industry PR-spin suggests. The fact is that these lands once had stronger environmental regulations and planned designations to protect protect elk and deer winter ranges, old-growth forests, scenery, riparian forests for salmon and clean water and that restricted raw log exports, until the BC Liberal government removed or did not implement them,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance.  “That is, these corporate private lands were previously regulated to public land standards for over half a century in exchange for the BC government’s granting of free Crown land logging rights to the companies back then – what has happened is that the regulations on private lands were removed recently and intended regulations were never put in place, while the companies were still allowed to keep their Crown land logging rights.”

“I believe that major public and markets pressure has so far helped to keep Island Timberlands from logging on Cortes Island,” stated forest activist Zoe Miles, from Cortes Island's Wildstands Alliance. “But we don’t know how long this will last, and it certainly hasn't stopped them from carrying out the same destructive, short-term logging projects in other small communities.”

“No community stands alone. That's the new reality. Forest management has become unprofessional and coastal communities have had enough. We now stand together, and call on the BC government to reinstate integrity and public oversight of forestry on private lands as well as public lands,” stated Cec Robinson of Wildstands Alliance on Cortes Island.

“’Save the Day’ felt it was important to show our support to the Vancouver Island groups trying to protect special areas from the Island Timberland style of logging. We have seen their methods of logging in our own neighbourhood and are currently trying to protect a beautiful forest that they are threatening to log in the near future, home to a double 40 foot waterfall and is a place used by many members of our community for recreation and connecting with the natural world,” stated Brett Heneke of Save the Day, a Roberts Creek organization working to protect the Day Road Forest on the Sunshine Coast.

“Island Timberlands is logging Labour Day Lake, which is a community recreation area and is the headwaters of the Cathedral Grove, the official drinking watershed for the Town of Qualicum Beach, and the community of Dashwood,” stated Annette Tanner, Chair of the Mid-Island Wilderness Committee chapter based in Qualicum Beach.  “We have been gathering petitions to stop the logging of the Cathedral Grove watershed since 2000.”

“These forested lands are being fought for by a united group of activists because so much is at stake,” said Jason Addy of the Friends of Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River. “These lands and their trees provide immeasurable value to their communities, and for all the people of BC, as integral parts of a living forest ecosystem.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Island Timberlands Moves to Log Contentious Old-Growth Forests and Deer Winter Range Intended for Protection on Vancouver Island

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Island Timberlands is moving full throttle to log some of their most contentious old-growth forest lands near Port Alberni, including “Juniper Ridge”, an ungulate winter range formerly intended for protection, and Labour Day Lake, the headwaters of Cathedral Grove’s Cameron River.

See beautiful photos of the highly scenic Juniper Ridge here: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/juniper-ridge/

Earlier this week, Island Timberlands began road construction into an ungulate winter range formerly intended for protection for black-tailed deer in an old-growth forest near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, an area referred to by conservationists as “Juniper Ridge”. Juniper Ridge is an increasingly rare tract of old-growth forest filled with highly endangered old-growth Douglas-fir trees, sensitive ecosystems of brittle reindeer lichens growing on open rocky outcrops, and an abundance of juniper shrubs. The area, roughly 20 hectares in size, is a one hour drive from the town of Port Alberni and is located between Ash and Turnbull Lakes. This is a popular recreational area where many Alberni locals and tourists fish, camp, canoe, and hike.

“The old-growth forest and lichen-covered rocky outcrops on Juniper Ridge are endangered and sensitive ecosystems largely growing on extremely thin soils. It would take many centuries for the old-growth forest to fully recover here after logging. Unfortunately, with the trend of harvesting smaller sized trees with shorter logging rotations, these old growth Douglas- fir ecosystems will never have the chance to return,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Watershed-Forest Alliance based in Port Alberni. “This forest is heavily used by wintering deer, and was intended to be preserved for this purpose. This area is also a popular recreation destination for locals and tourists going hiking, fishing and boating.”

The Watershed-Forest Alliance, with support from Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser, have met with and have asked Island Timberlands to stay out of all previously planned Ungulate Winter Range and Wildlife Habitat Areas. The land was largely deregulated in 2004 due to its removal from Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 44 and planned protections were never implemented. A subsequent agreement between the former licencee and the BC government was supposed to have resulted in the protection of these lands, but has not been pursued. Instead the company has chosen to simply log these high conservation value forests. Of the original 2400 hectares of lands intended for protection, only about 900 hectares remain unlogged which amounts to just over 1% of the total 74,000 hectares removed from TFL 44.

 

“The BC government never implemented the planned environmental protections on these lands a few years ago, putting them in jeopardy. Now they need to do the right thing and properly protect these lands, either by purchasing them or re-regulating them and putting in place the intended protections,” stated Jane Morden, coordinator of the Watershed-Forest Alliance.

Recent logging that began in early June also threatens the old-growth subalpine forests at Labour Day Lake, not an intended Ungulate Winter Range, but a popular recreation destination not far from Port Alberni. The lake is surrounded by ancient yellow cedars and mountain hemlocks and is the headwaters of the Cameron River which flows into the famed Cathedral Grove.

The Ancient Forest Alliance is calling on the provincial government to establish a BC Park Acquisition Fund of at least $40 million per year, raising $400 million over 10 years, to purchase old-growth forests and other endangered ecosystems on private lands across the province, such as Juniper Ridge and Labour Day Lake. The fund would be similar to the park acquisition funds of various regional districts in BC which are augmented by the fundraising efforts of private citizens and land trusts.

“Island Timberlands needs to put the brakes on their plans to log any more of their forests that were formerly protected or planned for protection and other contentious old-growth forests, otherwise they’ll face increasing international markets pressure. Meanwhile Christy Clark’s BC Liberal government must step forward to protect these lands. Part of what’s needed is a BC Park Acquisition Fund, similar to those of many regional districts, to purchase endangered ecosystems on private lands for protection,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner.

Island Timberlands also plans or has been logging numerous other contentious forests, including:

  • The south side of Mt. Horne on the mountain above the world-famous Cathedral Grove
  • McLaughlin Ridge, a prime old-growth deer winter range and important habitat for the endangered Queen Charlotte Goshawk. With trees similar in size to Cathedral grove, McLaughlin Ridge helps to protect the China Creek Watershed which is the source of drinking water for the city of Port Alberni.
  • Cameron Valley Firebreak, a rare valley bottom-to-mountain top old-growth forest that the company has already logged large swaths of.
  • The west side of Father and Son Lake, a popular fishing area for local Port Alberni residents.
  • Pearl Lake, near Strathcona Provincial Park.
  • Stillwater Bluffs near Powell River.
  • Day Road Forest near Roberts Creek.
  • Old-growth and mature forests on Cortes Island.

The Ancient Forest Alliance and local conservationists are calling for the protection of old-growth forests, sustainable logging in second-growth forests, and an end to the export of raw logs to foreign mills in order to ensure a guaranteed log supply for BC mills.

BACKGROUNDER:

In 2004 the BC Liberal government removed 88,000 hectares of Weyerhaeuser’s forest lands, now owned by Island Timberlands, from their Tree Farm Licences (TFL’s), thus removing many environmental protections and exempting the area from many other intended protections.  This includes designated protections such as Riparian Management Reserves, the prohibition against conversion of forest lands to real estate developments, and provincial restrictions on raw log exports on those lands; and planned protections such as Old-Growth Management Areas, Wildlife Habitat Areas, Visual Quality Objectives, as well as Ungulate Winter Ranges (UWR’s) at Juniper Ridge, McLaughlin Ridge, Cameron Valley Firebreak, forests by Father and Son Lake, and south Mt. Horne by Cathedral Grove.

The original logging rights on public (Crown) lands on Vancouver Island were granted to logging companies for free earlier last century on condition that the companies allowed their adjacent private forest lands to be placed into regulatory designations known as Tree Farm Licences (TFL’s), in order to control the rate of cut, ensure their logs went to local mills, and to ensure environmental standards on those private lands.
In recent times the companies (Weyerhaeuser in 2004 and Western Forest Products in 2007) greatly benefitted from the removal of their private lands from their TFL’s as it allowed them to log previously protected forests, to export raw logs, and to sell-off forest lands to developers – but meanwhile were still allowed to retain their Crown land logging rights (despite no longer upholding the conditions of the original agreement on their private lands).

This failure to uphold the original agreement is considered by many to be a breach of the public interest. Weyerhaeuser has since moved off the coast, with the company’s former private lands now owned by Island Timberlands and its Crown land logging rights held by Western Forest Products.
 

An example of High Productivity Old-Growth Forest. Ancient Forest Alliance volunteer Mary Vasey stands amongst old-growth redcedars in the unprotected Upper Castle Grove in the the Walbran Valley on southwestern Vancouver Island.

"The Good, the Bad, and the Wobbly"

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“The Green, Liberal, and NDP platforms on old-growth logging and sustainable forestry can best be summarized as ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Wobbly’,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “The Greens have committed to ending logging of our endangered old-growth forests, the BC Liberals are still spinning their anti-environmental fairy tale that ‘old-growth forests are not disappearing’, and the NDP are trying to figure out how far they’ll go to protect old-growth forests but have not provided any details or made any strong commitments.”

On old-growth logging and sustainable forestry, the parties’ platforms are as follows:

The Green Party’s platform can be described as “Good”.
The Greens have committed to a science-based plan to fully protect BC’s old-growth forests in endangered regions, to reduce the unsustainable overcutting of second-growth forests with longer rotations and to phase-out clearcutting, and to increase the fee on raw log exports to support value-added processing of BC wood products.  https://www.greenparty.bc.ca/forest_action_plan and https://www.greenparty.bc.ca/forestry

The BC Liberals’ platform can be described as “Bad”.
The BC Liberals maintain that old-growth forests are not disappearing, that raw log exports are necessary, and continue to support the status quo of large-scale old-growth liquidation. See this article in the Times Colonist.

The BC Liberals have been promoting misleading statistics for a decade where they’ve overinflated the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including vast tracts of stunted, non-commercial “bonsai” forests in bogs and at high altitudes in their statistics. “It’s like including your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why stop spending?” Wu noted. “The BC Liberals have been the ‘Despoilers of Beautiful BC’ when it comes to supporting large-scale old-growth logging and unsustainable forestry across most of the province.”

The NDP’s platform platform can be described as “Wobbly” or “Vague”.
The NDP mention protecting “valuable old-growth forests” in their main platform (see page 42: https://www.bcndp.ca/files/BCNDP-Platform-2013-Web.pdf- Link no longer available), but don’t provide any key details like “how”, “how much”, “where”, and “when”. The party has not committed to ending old-growth logging in any region of BC, nor to a science-based old-growth protection plan for the province. The party says it aims to reduce raw log exports, but provides no details how except to “work with stakeholders”. During the election campaign, thousands of people have written emails and called NDP candidates (see https://www.BCForestMovement.com – Link no longer available) asking them to end logging of endangered old-growth forests. The NDP’s position has evolved from no mention of old-growth, sustainable forestry or the environment in their status quo Forestry Platform (April 15), to a brief mention of old-growth in their Main Platform (April 24), and in recent days increasing mention of saving old-growth forests in their various PR initiatives (but still lacking detailed, strong commitments).

“As the NDP are likely to be the next government, I sure hope they remember the 1990’s ‘War in the Woods’, and that they truly listen to the conservation movement and implement a science-based old-growth protection plan that will end endangered old-growth logging and ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry,” stated Ken Wu.

New maps of BC’s southern coast highlight the ecological crisis in BC’s forests due to old-growth logging. At least 74% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including at least 91% of the biggest, best old-growth stands (ie. the“classic” high productivity valley-bottom old-growth forests with the largest monumental trees most heavily visited by tourists and featured in photos). See the new maps and statistics at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

Ancient forests are vital to sustain endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures.

The BC Conservatives have made no mention in their platform or website about old-growth protection, sustainable forestry, or anything environment-related to forestry. About the only mention of forestry in their platform is a strange statement that “the BC Liberals have shown little enthusiasm for the development of British Columbia’s abundant natural resources.” “They must have a pretty scary platform on the environment if they think that,” Wu observed.

MORE BACKGROUND INFO:

How has the NDP’s Position Evolved on Old-Growth Forests?

– From 2006-2008 (Forestry Critic Bob Simpson) the party called for a “Provincial Old-Growth Plan for the Coast and Interior”. During this time, Simpson moved the party into a strong position in favour of protecting old-growth forests, but was ousted from the party a couple years later.

– In 2011 during Adrian Dix’s NDP party leadership bid, Dix had quickly followed the lead of his opponent, John Horgan, who was also vying for party leadership and who had made old-growth forest protection a key part of his platform. Dix soon followed, committing to: “Develop a long term strategy for old growth forests in the Province, including protection of specific areas that are facing immediate logging plans…” See point 4 under “Ecosystem Management” at: [Original article no longer available] . This commitment has since not been further developed, re-mentioned, or even officially adopted by the party.

– On April 15, 2013, the NDP’s Forestry Platform was launched (Forestry Critics Norm MacDonald and Bill Routley). There was no mention of old-growth forests, sustainability, or the environment. See: https://www.bcndp.ca/files/BG-BCNDP-130415_-_Forestry.pdf

– On April 22 (Earth Day), 2013, the NDP’s Environment Platform was launched. There was no mention of old-growth forests in the media release or in public. See: https://www.bcndp.ca/newsroom/dix-invests-green-projects-ends-carbon-credit-fund-and-reaffirms-opposition-enbridge

– On April 24, 2013, the NDP’s Main Platform was launched. The words “Protect significant ecological areas like wetlands, estuaries and valuable old-growth forests” were included in the Environment section. This was a recent step forward, but still vague without details. See page 42: https://www.bcndp.ca/files/BCNDP-Platform-2013-Web.pdf

Tracts of old-growth forests are regularly protected in BC each year through the implementation of regional land use plans that designate new Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s), often in marginal old-growth stands with stunted trees – while at the same time larger areas of productive old-growth forests are logged.

Key questions about the NDP’s old-growth commitment include if it would be above and beyond the protection levels of current land use plans; if it would be a limited, ad-hoc approach on the party’s whim wherever they choose to or choose not to protect, or if would be a comprehensive, systematic protection plan across the province; if it would involve science-based conservation assessments that set old-growth protection/ restoration targets in each ecosystem and region of the province that must be met to minimize biodiversity loss; and if they would actually end old-growth logging in any regions deemed endangered by science.

“A crucial question is if the NDP’s old-growth protection commitment would exceed the inadequate protection levels of the status quo under the BC Liberals and restrict or fully end the logging of endangered old-growth forests in any regions of the province. Without further details, the NDP’s stance could very well be just a continuation of the unsustainable status quo. In fact, BC’s top industry insiders say it is,” stated Ken Wu.

The presidents of BC’s two largest old-growth logging industry associations, Rick Jeffrey of the Coast Forest Products Association (CFPA) and John Allen of the Council Of Forest Industries (COFI), have both stated that the NDP’s forestry platform represents the status quo, with little difference from the BC Liberal government’s policies. See “Parties’ Forestry Platforms Show Few Differences, Industry Insiders Say”: https://www.timescolonist.com/parties-forestry-platforms-show-few-differences-industry-insiders-say-1.111472 and “Global TV: Cathedral Grove and NDP on Forestry” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOz232HDx3Y

See spectacular photos of our old-growth forests at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/.

See a recent ancient forest campaign video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6YTizBF-jE

A map of the remaining productive old-growth forests left on Vancouver Island and the SW Mainland as of 2012.

New Maps Highlight BC’s “Crisis in the Woods” due to Old-Growth Logging

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Media Release
May 10, 2013
 
New Maps Highlight BC's “Crisis in the Woods” due to Old-Growth Logging
 
New maps of BC’s southern coast highlight the ecological crisis in BC’s forests due to old-growth logging. The most conservative figures from the preliminary analysis of Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland reveal that at least 74% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including at least 91% of the biggest, best old-growth stands (ie. the“classic” high productivity valley-bottom old-growth forests with the largest monumental trees that are most heavily visited by tourists and featured in photos).
 
See the new maps and statistics at:  www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php
 
“These new maps clearly show the ecological crisis in BC’s forests due a century of overcutting BC’s biggest, best old-growth stands, particularly at the lower elevations. The high-grade depletion of our ecologically richest ancient forests – which continues on a large scale today – has resulted in the increasing collapse of ecosystems and rural communities,” stated Vicky Husband, the noted Victoria-based conservationist who helped pioneer the development of the first old-growth forest cover maps of Vancouver Island in the early 1990’s. “In the '90's we were still fighting for intact watersheds, whole valleys – those are all gone, except in Clayoquot Sound.  Today, almost all of our ancient forests are tattered and fragmented, and we need the BC government to have the wisdom to implement a science-based old-growth protection plan immediately to save what remains. In addition, they must ensure a sustainable, value-added second-growth forest industry.”
 
The new maps are based on 2012 BC Ministry of Forests inventory data (site productivity, stand height and volume, elevation, terrain) for the Crown lands and 2011 satellite photos and logging data for the private lands. The figures are derived from a preliminary data analysis based on the most conservative calculations (ie. erring on the lower side of what percentages of productive old-growth forests have been logged), with a more comprehensive analysis to be released in the near future.
 
“As a result of the high-grade depletion of the biggest trees, the forest industry has been left with diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, lower in value, and more expensive to reach. Most remaining old-growth forests in the province are on low productivity sites at high elevations, on rocky mountainsides, and in bogs of little to no commercial timber value,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “The BC government for the past decade has been spinning a tale that all is well in the woods and that ‘old-growth forests are not disappearing’ by their promotion of totally misleading statistics. They fail to provide context on how much productive old-growth once stood across the entire land base, and always include vast tracts of stunted, non-commercial ‘bonsai’ forests in bogs and at high altitudes in their statistics. It’s like combining your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why curtail spending?”
 
• See a photogallery of Canada's biggest trees found in High Productivity, Valley Bottom Old-Growth Forests (91% have been logged on BC's southern coast) at:  www.ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=1

• See a photogallery of Low Productivity Old-Growth Forests (much of the remaining old-growth forests) at:  www.ancientforestalliance.org/photos.php?gID=22

 
Other key findings of the preliminary analysis include:
 
• Of the 5.5 million hectares of old-growth forests originally on BC’s southern coast, 2.2 million hectares (40%) were “low productivity” old-growth forests (generally smaller, stunted trees growing in bogs, in the subalpine zone, or on steep rocky slopes – most of which have little to no commercial timber value), while 3.3 million hectares (60%) were medium to high productivity old-growth forests (large trees targeted by logging).  NOTE: Medium to high productivity forests are referred to here as simply “productive”.
 
• Of 3.3 million hectares of productive old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast, only 860,000 hectares (26%) currently remain.
 
• Only 260,000 hectares (8% of the original) of productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s).
 
• Of 360,000 hectares of the high productivity, valley-bottom stands (ie. the biggest, best stands with the richest biodiversity – the “classic” iconic old-growth forests of coastal BC) that once existed, only 31,000 hectares (9%) remain.
 
• Only 11,700 hectares (3% of the original) of the high productivity, valley bottom old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas.
 
MORE BACKGROUND INFO
 
Ancient forests are vital to sustain endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures.
 
The evidence of collapsing ecosystems due to massive old-growth logging is revealed through the dramatic decline of old-growth dependent species across the province, like spotted owls, marbled murrelets, and mountain caribou.
 
BC’s spotted owl population was once estimated to consist of 1000 breeding adults, or likely several thousand individuals – today less than a dozen individuals are believed to exist in BC’s wilds. Marbled murrelets, a seabird that nests in old-growth trees, are considered to have undergone a “substantial to moderate decline” by BC’s Conservation Data Center. Mountain caribou populations, found in BC’s interior, have declined by 40% since the 1990’s, from 2500 individuals in 1995 to 1500 individuals today.
 
The BC government more than tripled the amount of unprocessed, raw logs leaving the province to foreign mills during their reign of power, according to recent figures provided by BC’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (Min. of FLNRO) to the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA).

From 2002 to 2012, over 47 million cubic meters of raw logs were exported from BC to foreign mills in China, the USA, Japan, Korea, and other nations. This contrasts to about 14.8 million cubic meters from 1991 to 2001 under the previous government. Over the past two years alone, in 2011 and 2012, record levels of raw logs were exported from BC, 13.2 million cubic meters in total.
 
At its core, the massive export of raw logs has been driven by a combination of the BC government’s deregulation of the forest industry and by the industry’s unsustainable depletion of the biggest best old-growth trees at the lower elevations.

The overcutting of the prime stands of old-growth redcedars, Douglas-firs and Sitka spruce in the lowlands that historically built the wealth of the forest industry – and for which coastal sawmills were originally built to process – has resulted in diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, lower in value, different in species, and harder to reach high up the mountainsides and in the valley headwaters. Today, more than 90 per cent of the most productive old-growth forests in the valley bottoms on B.C.’s southern coast are gone.
 
Coastal mills generally haven’t been retooled to handle the changing profile of the forest with smaller trees as the lowland ancient forests have been depleted. Today hemlock and Amabilis fir stands (“hem-bal” in industry jargon) constitute most of the remaining old-growth stands, and Douglas-fir, cedar, and hemlock constitute most of the maturing second-growth stands. At a critical juncture in 2003 the BC Liberal government removed the local milling requirements (through the Forestry Revitalization Act), thus allowing tenured logging companies to shut down their mills instead of being forced to retool them to handle the changing forest profile. This allowed the companies to then export the unprocessed logs to foreign countries.

In a report for the B.C. Ministry of Forests (Ready for Change, 2001), Dr. Peter Pearse described the history of high-grade overcutting in BC`s coastal forests: “The general pattern was to take the nearest, most accessible, and most valuable timber first, gradually expand up coastal valleys and mountainsides into more remote and lower quality timber, less valuable, and costlier to harvest. Today, loggers are approaching the end of the merchantable old-growth in many areas … Caught in the vise of rising costs and declining harvest value, the primary sector of the industry no longer earns an adequate return …”

B.C.’s coastal forest industry, once Canada’s mightiest, is now a remnant of its past. Over the past decade, more than 70 B.C. mills have closed and over 30,000 forestry jobs lost. As old-growth stands are depleted and harvesting shifts to the second-growth, B.C.’s forestry jobs are being exported as raw logs to foreign mills due to a failure to retool old-growth mills to handle the smaller second-growth logs and invest in related manufacturing facilities.

In his 2001 report, Pearse also stated: “Over the next decade, the second-growth component of timber harvest can be expected to increase sharply, to around 10 million cubic metres … To efficiently manufacture the second-growth component of the harvest, 11 to 14 large mills will be needed.” Today, more than a decade later, there is only one large and a handful of smaller second-growth mills on the coast.

While old-growth forests are being liquidated, second-growth stands are also currently being overcut at a rapid pace mainly for raw log exports, thus limiting future options in general for a sustainable forest industry.
 
See spectacular photos of our old-growth forests at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/  (NOTE: Media are free to reprint any photos, credit to “TJ Watt” if possible. Let us know if you need higher res shots too)
 
See a recent ancient forest campaign video at:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6YTizBF-jE

Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act.
Ancient Forest Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada

A ship loaded with raw logs awaiting export. Nanaimo

BC Liberal Government More Than Tripled Raw Log Exports to Foreign Mills

/in /by

The BC Liberal government more than tripled the amount of unprocessed, raw logs leaving the province to foreign mills during their reign of power, according to recent figures provided by BC’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (Min. of FLNRO) to the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA).

From 2002 to 2012, over 47 million cubic meters of raw logs were exported from BC to foreign mills in China, the USA, Japan, Korea, and other nations. This contrasts to about 14.8 million cubic meters from 1991 to 2001 under the NDP government. Over the past two years alone, in 2011 and 2012, record levels of raw logs were exported from BC, 13.2 million cubic meters in total. [see info sources and details below]

“The BC Liberals have decimated the province’s forestry workforce through massive raw log exports, industry deregulation, and unsustainable practices. 30,000 BC forest workers lost their jobs and over 70 mills were shut down under the BC Liberals, yet they’ve allowed companies to cut at near record levels,” stated Arnold Bercov, national forestry officer of the Pulp, Paper, and Woodworkers of Canada. “Under the BC Liberals, we lost both our forests and our jobs, it’s nuts.”

Conservationists and forestry workers have found common ground in opposing raw log exports and have joined together in numerous rallies and protests over the past decade for sustainable forestry. The BC Liberal government expedited raw log exports by removing the local milling requirements (appurtenancy) that historically tied companies with logging rights on Crown lands to also provide BC milling jobs; by removing vast areas of Tree Farm Licences that once regulated private forest lands on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast; by issuing record numbers of log export permits on Crown lands; by removing log export restrictions from vast regions of BC’s northern coast; and by overruling the recommendations of their own Timber Exports Advisory Committee.

At the same time the BC Liberal government failed to create any regulations or adequate incentives to retool old-growth mills to handle second-growth logs or to develop value-added facilities. “The BC Liberal government has been a failure on both counts: to ensure that BC logs go to BC mills that can process them, and to foster new mills and value-added facilities to handle logs currently without BC processors,” stated Bercov.

“If we’re going to protect our endangered old-growth forests while maintaining forestry employment levels, we need to do more with less – that is, we need to develop a value-added, sustainable second-growth forest industry. Ramping-up raw log exports while overcutting our forests goes precisely in the opposite direction, it’s doing less with more,” stated Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The BC Liberal government’s forestry policies can be summed up as: liquidate the old-growth, close the old-growth mills; liquidate the second-growth, export the raw logs; remove the TFL’s and sell-off prime forest lands for real estate development. The BC Liberals have acted as the despoilers of beautiful British Columbia for both natural and human communities.”

Additional BackGround Info

BRITISH COLUMBIA – RAW LOG EXPORTS

Year      Crown lands (m3)   Private Lands (m3)   TOTAL (m3)

2002        1.5 million                 2.3 million                 3.8 million
2003        1.5 million                 2.1 million                 3.6 million
2004        1.2 million                 2.3 million                 3.5 million
2005        1.8 million                 3.0 million                 4.8 million
2006        1.5 million                 2.8 million                 4.3 million
2007        0.9 million                 2.6 million                 3.5 million
2008        1.0 million                1.9 million                  2.9 million
2009        1.3 million                1.4 million                  2.7 million
2010        2.5 million                2.0 million                  4.5 million
2011        4.0 million                2.8 million                  6.8 million
2012        4.0 million                2.4 million                  6.4 million

Total        21.2 million             25.6 million                46.8 million (rounded sum) 

                                                                                        47,025,665 (exact sum)

Source: Ministry of Forest, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRO) – data provided to the Ancient Forest Alliance in April, 2013

See a chart on historic log export levels (eg. through the 1990`s under the NDP government) on page 20 of the Log Exports Review at: https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/ftp/het/external/!publish/web/exports/generating-more-wealth.pdf

See the decline in forestry employment levels in BC, most dramatic during the reign of the BC Liberal party: https://16.52.162.165/drop-in-employment-in-bcs-forestry-sector/

There were about 1,067 cubic metres of timber harvested per job in 2019: https://theorca.ca/resident-pod/less-bang-for-our-bucking/

At its core, the massive export of raw logs has been driven by a combination of the BC Liberal government’s deregulation of the forest industry and by the industry’s unsustainable depletion of the biggest best old-growth trees at the lower elevations.

The overcutting of the prime stands of old-growth redcedars, Douglas-firs and Sitka spruce in the lowlands that historically built the wealth of the forest industry – and for which coastal sawmills were originally built to process – has resulted in diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, lower in value, different in species, and harder to reach high up the mountainsides and in the valley headwaters. Today, more than 90 per cent of the most productive old-growth forests in the valley bottoms on B.C.’s southern coast are gone.

Coastal mills generally haven’t been retooled to handle the changing profile of the forest with smaller trees as the lowland ancient forests have been depleted. Today hemlock and Amabilis fir stands (“hem-bal” in industry jargon) constitute most of the remaining old-growth stands, and Douglas-fir, cedar, and hemlock constitute most of the maturing second-growth stands. At a critical juncture in 2003 the BC Liberal government removed the local milling requirements (through the Forestry Revitalization Act), thus allowing tenured logging companies to shut down their mills instead of being forced to retool them to handle the changing forest profile. This allowed the companies to then export the unprocessed logs to foreign countries.

In a report for the B.C. Ministry of Forests (Ready for Change, 2001), Dr. Peter Pearse described the history of high-grade overcutting in BC`s coastal forests: “The general pattern was to take the nearest, most accessible, and most valuable timber first, gradually expand up coastal valleys and mountainsides into more remote and lower quality timber, less valuable, and costlier to harvest. Today, loggers are approaching the end of the merchantable old-growth in many areas … Caught in the vise of rising costs and declining harvest value, the primary sector of the industry no longer earns an adequate return …”

B.C.’s coastal forest industry, once Canada’s mightiest, is now a remnant of its past. Over the past decade, more than 70 B.C. mills have closed and over 30,000 forestry jobs lost. As old-growth stands are depleted and harvesting shifts to the second-growth, B.C.’s forestry jobs are being exported as raw logs to foreign mills due to a failure to retool old-growth mills to handle the smaller second-growth logs and invest in related manufacturing facilities.

In his 2001 report, Pearse also stated: “Over the next decade, the second-growth component of timber harvest can be expected to increase sharply, to around 10 million cubic metres … To efficiently manufacture the second-growth component of the harvest, 11 to 14 large mills will be needed.” Today, more than a decade later, there is only one large and a handful of smaller second-growth mills on the coast.

While old-growth forests are being liquidated, second-growth stands are also currently being overcut at a rapid pace mainly for raw log exports, thus limiting future options in general for a sustainable forest industry.

Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act
Ancient Forest, Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada